


Tonight's the night

by tonystarklovesyou3000



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 08:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23008735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonystarklovesyou3000/pseuds/tonystarklovesyou3000
Summary: Tony Stark is ready to propose. The problem is, Steve is too.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 148





	Tonight's the night

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by tumblr user acachette's gorgeous [art](https://acachette.tumblr.com/post/611042473864740864/some-of-you-might-remember-a-bit-ago-i-did-a)!

_Tonight's the night_ , Tony thought as he gave his reflection a critical look in the bathroom mirror. He was dressed in a crisp, white dress shirt, a deep purple vest, a matching tie, and gray slacks.

 _Do I look nervous?_ Tony purposefully relaxed his posture and then grinned. It looked awkward and forced. He sighed. _I'm fine. I'm not nervous. I'm never nervous._

Tony checked that the bulk of the ring box in his pocket wasn't showing through his pants. He didn't want Steve to spot it and arouse his suspicion. That wasn't part of the plan.

Steve had asked him where he wanted to go for their five year anniversary and Tony had chosen a small Italian restaurant by the water because he knew that Steve would love the gorgeous view of the Brooklyn Bridge. After dinner, Tony would speak from the heart and then propose to Steve with his father's wedding ring. Simple, tasteful, and sweet, just the way Steve liked it.

Tony took a deep breath and one last look in the mirror before he thought, _Okay. I'm proposing tonight._  


\---

 _Tonight's the night_ , Steve thought as he held up a dark blue tie and a black tie to inspect.

 _Blue_ , Steve decided. _Tony likes the blue tie._

He went over his plan in his head as he tied his tie. After Tony had gone into the bathroom, Steve had texted Natasha and asked her to deliver a bouquet of flowers to their room to surprise Tony.

When they were ready to go, Happy would drive them to the restaurant. Steve had asked Tony to choose the restaurant because he wanted Tony to have whatever he wanted tonight. After they ate, Steve would deliver his carefully written speech and propose. If- _when_ , Steven amended, Tony said yes, Natasha, watching from afar, would set off fireworks.

 _Easy-peasy_ , Steve thought, sliding his hand into his pants pocket to check for the third time in five minutes that the ring box was still there. _I'm going to propose tonight._

\---

When Tony came out of the bathroom, there was a giant bouquet of red roses and bright yellow marigold flowers on the dresser in their bedroom.

"Steve!" Tony exclaimed, dramatically clutching his chest as he approached Steve by the bed. "Truly a man after my heart."

"If I don't already have it by now, I don't know what I'm doing wrong," Steve said, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist and leaning in for a deep kiss. They only pulled away from each other when Tony's phone started ringing.

"That's Happy," Tony said when he pulled out his phone to look at the screen. "You ready?"

Steve smiled. "As I'll ever be."

\---

"Oh wow," Steve said as he followed the maître d' through the doors to the empty outdoors dining area and saw the Brooklyn Bridge lit up against the night sky. The maître d' led them to a table where a single pink camellia flower in a glass vase sat.

Steve's smile grew bigger and he took a second to sniff it before sitting down. _My favorite flower._

After they placed their orders, Steve and Tony fell into a comfortable conversation about their day. Steve talked about training the new Avengers recruits and Tony talked about the latest research Stark Industries was conducting.

Soon, they were done with their meals and they lapsed into a moment of peaceful silence as the waiter took away their dishes and they looked out over the water together.

"It's hard to believe it's been five years, huh?" Steve mused, turning his attention back to Tony.

"My graying temples can believe it," Tony joked.

"I like your graying temples," Steve replied playfully.

"Oh good. I was afraid you were gonna drop me for a younger genius billionaire who wears a tin can on a regular basis," Tony said.

 _It's time_ , Steve thought.

"Never. I've actually been thinking a lot about our future," Steve leaned forward to take Tony's hands in his and Tony quirked an eyebrow at him. "Before I met you, I was so lost. I spent a lot of time thinking about the past and what could've been if I hadn't gone into the ice. You brought me into the present and I'm so grateful to you for that. You challenged me, made me laugh, showed me how to enjoy my life. You helped me realize that I still have a real place in this world. I love you in all your brilliant, passionate, beautiful, chaotic glory. I am so happy to have been by your side and I never want to leave it."

As Steve reached for his pocket, a look of horror crossed Tony's face. Dread started to pool in Steve's stomach, but he pushed on anyway. "Tony, will you-"

"Shut the fuck up," Tony interrupted, his eyes wide and wild.

All the air left Steve's chest at once.

\---

Tony watched as Steve's nervous smile dropped from his face lightning quick and his shoulder slumped so low they might as well be on the ground.

"No, wait-" Tony started, gripping Steve's hands harder.

"I-I've made a mistake," Steve said as he took his hands back and rocketed up from his chair.

Before Steve could turn to leave, Tony stood up and quickly grabbed his forearm. "Wait, wait, that's not what I mean."

Steve stopped, probably more out of surprise than an inability to get out of Tony's grasp.

"I want to but-I was gonna-this is all wrong. Okay. Okay. Sit down," Tony said as he let go of Steve's arm and sat back down. Tony cleared his throat and took a deep breath as he nervously smoothed down non-existent creases in his tie.

"What?" Steve asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Just. Sit down. It'll be okay. I promise," Tony said. Steve hesitantly sat back down. He pulled the chair close to the table and the scrape of the chair against the floor was the loudest sound Tony had ever heard.

"Steve. I love you so much. I love your optimism and your bravery and your kindness and your stubbornness. I love waking up in the morning in your bed and volunteering at hospitals with you and fighting alien baddies next to you. You've made me a better person. You've made me want to _keep trying_ to be a better person. I know I call myself a futurist, but I don't really know what the rest of our lives will be like. Every day, a newer, scarier threat shows up on the horizon. But the one thing I know is that I will always want to take on whatever the future has in store for us, together."

Realization was dawning on Steve's face.

"That's why I wanted to ask you-" Tony hurriedly dropped to one knee next to his chair, hitting his knee so hard that the impact reverberated up his leg and he winced. He whipped the ring box out of his pocket and opened it up to reveal the engagement ring. "-Willyoumarryme?"

"What? No, that's not fair! I proposed first!" Steve said, standing up and tugging at Tony's arm to get him to stand up. Tony refused to budge.

"Fine!" Steve said, dropping down to one knee. He took out his ring box and opened it to show Tony the ring. "Will _you_ marry _me_?"

"No, I said the words first!" Tony protested.

"Yeah, because you interrupted me and nearly gave me a panic attack!"

"You proposing was not in my plan!" Tony yelled.

"You proposing wasn't in _my_ plan!" Steve yelled back.

"I've been thinking about this for months!"

"Well, I've been thinking about this for years!"

"You can't prove that!"

"Why are we arguing if we both want to get married?"

"I don't know!"

Both Steve and Tony stopped talking and they just stared at each other, breathing heavily.

Steve's face broke into a big smile first. "You want to marry me."

"No shit, Steve." Tony rolled his eyes, but a smile was already starting to spread across his face. "And you want to marry me."

"So what you're saying is that we both say yes."

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Now help me up. You know I'm not a young man anymore, making me stay on my knee for so long," Tony grumbled. Steve stood up and grabbed Tony's forearm, hoisting Tony to his feet.

"Here, let me put the ring on you," Steve said, popping out the ring and holding it up for Tony to see. Tony saw you are my future etched into the inside of the ring. The ring was a shiny, silver color that reminded Tony of the metal of Steve's shield when the paint had scraped off it in the past. In fact...

"It's vibranium," Tony realized. He stuck his left hand out for Steve to take.

"Yes, I want you to have a piece of me wherever you go," Steve said as he slid the ring onto Tony's ring finger.

"I love it," Tony said genuinely. "My turn."

Steve obligatorily offered his left hand. Tony took the ring out of the box and slid it onto Steve's finger.

"This ring was my dad's wedding band," Tony explained. The ring was gold and looked well-worn. "My mom chose it for him. I don't think I ever saw him take it off."

"Thank you, Tony," Steve said earnestly. He pulled Tony into his chest, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist and closing the small distance between their face to press his lips to Tony's. Tony let his eyelids flutter closed as he slid his lips against Steve's.

Suddenly, Tony heard the sound of multiple booms going off above his head and he instinctively ducked. Steve apparently had the same idea because their heads knocked against each other as they both dropped to the floor.

"Fuck!" Tony cursed, clutching his forehead. Other than the pain in his head, the rest of him seemed unharmed, though, so he looked up and saw...fireworks? Dumbstruck, Tony watched red and yellow fireworks explode against the sky.

"Did you do this?" Tony finally asked.

"Um, yea, so I forgot I had asked Nat to set off fireworks as soon as you said yes," Steve said abashedly. "I though you would like it."

"Of course I like it, Steve. You know how I like things to end with a bang," Tony said with a quirked eyebrow and a sly grin.

"Well, let's get home and get on with it then," Steve said, tugging Tony toward the exit.

"Let's," Tony agreed.


End file.
